Dispensing liquid such as juices, liquid soap, industrial oil, and the like, from bags within box containers has been used for many years with vending type machines, and are known to have problems. For example, the small exit ports from the liquid filled bags have been known to become clogged over time with substances such as juice pulp, and the like. Various types of valves have been proposed over the years to correct this problem such as using ball check valves, and the like. See for example, FIGS. 1A and 1B, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,164 to Whaley et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,386 to Martens.
FIG. 1A is an exploded view of a prior art ball check valve assembly 1. FIG. 1B is an assembled view 1′ of the prior art ball check valve assembly of FIG. 1A.
Referring to FIGS. 1A–1B, a prior art ball check valve assembly 1, 1′ has been used in the past several years as a dispenser head for bags in boxes that were used to dispense watery fluids such as iced tea, and the like. Inside a narrow diameter chamber 14, a ball 2 is held place under an upper plate portion 12. An external O-ring 13 is held in place between upper plate portion 12 and annular member 11. Chamber 14 has a diameter of approximately 8/10 of an inch which expands outward from sidewall 16 to an enlarged chamber 18 having a diameter of approximately 9/10 of an inch. An outer annular rim separates the chamber 14 from a lower extending chamber section 30 having a length of approximately 1 & 1/10 inches long and has a ridge 38 along its' lower end with an downwardly expanding edge.
The prior art valve assembly has limited use for several reasons. The narrow dispensing chamber portion 14 with a constricting interior passageway is only able to dispense watery type fluids such as iced tea, and the like, and also fluids that have a greater viscosity. More dense fluids such as juices with pulp are not able to pass through this narrow diameter chamber. In addition, the extra manufacturing needed to make the valve body 10 to have a narrowing diameter upper end, and raised surface portions and extra costs to allow for two O-rings is not an easy to make and is costly to produce.
Still furthermore, the fitting 40 used in the prior art ball check valve is not able to be used with different types of bags in a box that are used in vending machines, and the like, such as bags holding juice, and the like, which can not have a fitting with a long length as used in the prior art shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
In addition, the raised ridge 38 shown on chamber section 30 is difficult to push into the fitting 40. The interior shoulder protrusion 45 inside of chamber section 30 causes the ridge 38 to be basically wedged in place, and subject to the valve 10 being able to potentially separate from the fitting 40. Also, the combination of both the raised ridge 38 and the interior shoulder protrusion causes a gap between the exterior of chamber section 30 and the interior of fitting 40. Such a gap space can cause liquid from the bag to become trapped therebetween. Even with upper O-ring 25, a potential leak of fluid from outside the valve assembly 1′ can occur as well.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,386 to Martens describes a “Ball Check Valve Assembly”, title, for use with a bag in a box application, having a narrow depth “U-shaped” collar pre-attached to a ball valve that must be top mounted over a raised stem section that is attached to the liquid bag. However, this assembly has problems. The inside of the U-shaped portion is no greater than approximately 2/10 of an inch in depth. The shallow depth of this top mounted collar is clearly prone to accidentally falling off and separating from the stem section if the valve member is accidentally hit sideways. Since the bag is usually filled with liquid, such as juice, knocking the valve member off the stem portion can result in a disastrous loss of juice from the bag, which can result in a mess and possibly ruining the assembly and anything else in proximity such as the vending equipment itself. Thus, this assembly tends to not be stable and reliable when used.
In addition, the Marten's apparatus requires two separate ring shaped raised ridge surfaces in order to attach the collar to the stem section. These raised surfaces create extra complications that require additional molding work, and special tolerances and costs associated with the mold to make the assembly work.
The inventor is also aware of other U.S. patents. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,194 to Bedo et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,556 to Pareja; U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,496 to Freiheit; U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,928 to Schoepe; U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,912 to Hewett; U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,360 to Chronister; U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,940 to Jacobson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,408 to Christopherson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,196 to Mitchell et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,121 to Webster et U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,001 to Brown; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,494 to Wolski et al. In addition, the inventor is aware of UK patent Applications: GB 2,172,063 and GB 2,338,365, However, none of these patent references overcome all the problems referenced above.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.